The duration of downtime Lynden Gooch was able to enjoy lasted roughly 11 hours — or the amount of time it takes to fly from Los Angeles to London.

He's already back to work.

The Santa Cruz native was less than 24 hours removed from competing with the United States' Under-20 Men's National Team on Saturday afternoon when he began to board a cross-country and cross-Atlantic flight out of Los Angeles International. Destination: the United Kingdom, where Gooch, 18, planned to jump right back into the preseason mix on Monday morning with his Premier League development squad, Sunderland.

"That's how it is. Fly here, fly there, fly everywhere for tournaments, camps and games," Gooch said on Saturday, moments before he boarded a flight for London. "But that's all part of it."

"I'm used to it now," he added.

Good thing. The former soccer star at Soquel High could be accumulating even more frequent flyer miles in the upcoming months, as the U-20 MNT is expected to assemble for camps in Argentina and Jamaica — the latter of which will ultimately host January qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand next summer.

Gooch hopes to be on that team. Although he qualifies to play internationally with Ireland (through his mother) and England (through his father), his dream is to suit up for his native U.S. He was previously selected to compete for the U.S. U-15s and U-18s, and was called up in April to compete for the U-20 team at the Dallas Cup in Texas.

The prospect of him continuing on a path with the U.S. toward Jamaica and possibly New Zealand appears strong, but Gooch isn't taking anything for granted.

"I still have to keep working hard," he said.

Gooch is advancing through the ranks with his English club Sunderland, where he progressed from the U-18 to the U-21 team earlier this year and even enjoyed a few training sessions with the club's first team. He's likely turning heads among his U.S. coaches, too.

The versatile striker played in all three of the U-20 team's matches — starting in two of them — last week at the National Training Center Invitational in Carson, where the U.S. went 2-0-1 to win the tournament trophy. Coached by Tab Ramos, the U.S. earned the edge over Australia (2-0-1) as a result of a plus-5 goal differential, despite the two teams finishing in a scoreless draw during the tournament's final match last Friday night.

And Gooch, for his efforts, was named Man of the Match.

"I thought I did well. I was just hoping to get a goal," said the 5-foot-8 center forward, who hit the woodwork three times in the game, including one off the crossbar in the 79th minute.

"We knew all we needed was a tie to win the tournament, but we all wanted to score," he added. "It is frustrating to hit the post three times. I was wondering when I was going to get some luck."

Although Gooch was rather unlucky in his efforts at finding the back of the net, he did earn match honors at an opportune time. Not only was Gooch playing in front of several friends and family members, but he also performed in front of USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who was in attendance for Friday's tilt. Klinsmann even came into the locker room during pregame to shake the players' hands.

"It was nice because he was able to see what all of us can do," said Gooch, who returned to his more natural position for the NTC Invitational after playing more of the defensive midfield during the Dallas Cup.

"I think he lost six pounds in that game," Gooch's father, Paul, said of the NTC final. "He was everywhere."

And 24 hours later, he was elsewhere, on a plane heading back to the UK.

Gooch said he was running just a bit late for Sunderland's preseason training. The development squad began practicing earlier this month and even played its first friendly against Southhampton on Saturday.

Gooch was given extra time off from Sunderland to compete for the U.S., and the experience didn't disappoint.

"We won the tournament, so it felt good," Gooch said. "And any time I get to put on a jersey for the U.S. is amazing."